Thirsty – IOTW Report

Thirsty

18 Comments on Thirsty

  1. Not feeling amused. My cat is in hiding in the bushes. She was told yesterday that if she brings one more snake into the house that I am whacking her head off.

    14
  2. That is awesome!
    There was a series called, “Life After People” a few years ago.
    They said that of all the domesticated animals cats would be the survivors because they’re smart enough to go find food.

    My cat climbs the tree next to the garage and jumps on the roof so she can get into one of the upstairs windows that’s open when no one is around to let her in.

    7
  3. Bob M. MAY 24, 2021 AT 2:06 PM

    I wish MY cat could do something THAT clever.

    He mostly turns cat food into cat poop.

    Be grateful for what you have. Your cat is predictable and controllable as is. Otherwise you might come home to a flooded or burning house if it’s smart enough to explore turning things on.

    I have a very smart dog that needs to take pills twice a day the last 2 months and counting. We are WAY past the usual tricks to make things easy.

    He refuses to just take “Pill Pockets”. He knew what the deal was and now chews them enough to get the pill out of them first. That method worked for about 5 days until he figured that out.

    Wrapping them in cheese worked for about 5 days also. He started putting it on the ground and grabbing it by the edge and shaking it side to side until the pills shook out. “Thanks for the cheese, Dad! Keep the pills.”

    Same with wrapping them in thin sliced lunch meat. Worked for about 5 days, then started doing the same technique as with the cheese. Sigh..

    I went to pushing them past the back of his tongue with my thumb for about 3 weeks. An unpleasant experience for him and if I didn’t do it perfectly, I had a partially dissolved pill on the floor and him expecting the after-treat.

    We are on the peanut butter method for about a week now. He’s starting to figure that out now. He doesn’t just swallow it straight off these last few days.

    Be happy with a “dumb” animal. They are a blessing, too. Agreed there is a balance that’s just right. I’ve had neurotic and completely stupid dogs before. Sometimes frustrating but never a real problem. They were predictable and I could easily adjust accordingly.

    This smart one is joy 99.9% of the time. I’m thankful he hasn’t realized he could jump the backyard fence yet. Just wish we were past the need for his meds already.

    9
  4. Toonces DOES earn his keep. He found three mice in the basement a couple years ago that we DIDN’T know we had! ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

    He still patrols down there, but hasn’t found any since.

    7
  5. A little off subject, but my wife noticed one of our cats playing near the front door last night and went to see what he was doing. I was on the other side of the house and she began to scream like a howler monkey. I ran to her and it took me a while to understand what she was screaming about because, well, she’s a woman who was freaking out. Turns out, the recent heavy rains had triggered a termite explosion and the porch lights had attracted thousands of them and some had managed to make their way under the door and into the foyer. I went outside and the security lights around the house were attracting what looked like millions of the critters. I turned out all of the exterior lights and told her to calm down. (Yeah, right, like that was going to happen.) Today, it’s time to break out the Demon WP insecticide and let it do it’s magic.

    5
  6. @Bob,

    His patrols are what keeps the mice away – if they sense a cat is around, they steer clear.

    Some folks think that when a cat doesn’t catch a mouse or rat he’s not doing his job. Just hanging around the house the cat is earning his keep.

    6
  7. Hambone MAY 24, 2021 AT 3:58 PM

    Today, itโ€™s time to break out the Demon WP insecticide and let it do itโ€™s magic.

    Not solving the problem at all. We call that a “knockdown”. Even without a chem treatment they are gone within a day. Maybe more swarmers every day for a while, but knocking the swarmers down won’t solve the problem. They aren’t a part of the colony any more.

    If they are coming from someplace off your property (doubt it) and are just attracted to your light, then turning it off will do the trick.

    Since you are reporting scads of swarmers in a small place, The emergent spot is very nearby. Betting large the emergent spot is within a few feet. You wouldn’t get that many in such a small area if they were from someplace distant. Maybe just a few, at most. They swarm during the day because they need light, so they though your light was daytime. That means they came from your house or very nearby garden.

    You need to look for swarm castles on your structure. Often where joints of the construction are. Like corners of window and door frames, but they can be anywhere on the structure. Right below those swarm castles is where you’ll need to treat.

    I’m talking about the ground/soil being treated. Demon WP is not what you want to use. The best is one that doesn’t kill them right away and they transfer it back to the colony and wipe out the entire population. They’ll eventually work around anything that repels them.

    Termidor and Taurus are the best because they have Fipronil as the active chemical agent. Delayed kill and meant to transfer back to the entire colony. But swarmers don’t go back, it’s wasted effort with them. You can use anything off the shelf to knock them down. No need for something as strong as Demon WP.

    I did a search to show you, but I am amazed at the dearth of good examples. I’ll need to get some photos and videos in my records and make a tutorial like I have for the flea life cycle – a majorly mis-understood thing.

    Here is a video that does a decent job of explaining termites and their tubes. The tubes in this video are made of the same light construction the castles are made of. Easily crumbled is one feature. They are temporary use structures for them.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIGxZr2S8TQ

    This one is a pretty decent explanation of them also.

    https://youtu.be/EWgL_yN22_M?t=15

    35 years in the biz. Demon WP is awesome, but it’s not your best weapon of choice for this situation. You can kill swarmers with anything and they’ll be gone until next year when they swarm again. But they will have eaten even more of your home in the mean time.

    Start by looking for dirt coming out of the wall up high that sticks out from the wall a bit at that door and spread out from there. It will be the same color as the soil below it. If it’s red sandy soil, the castle will be made of that. Black soil here in Dallas means black swarm castles.

    When you find it – that’s the ground that needs treatment. Treat about 10 feet in each direction. Dig a trench along slab foundations and if pier & beam – you’ll need to check that spot from the crawl space side. If it’s a porch slab below it – then you’ll need to drill through it and inject the soil with a 6-way spray tip on it. A new hole every 1 1/2 to 2 feet on a porch slab. Here’s where most DIYs aren’t capable due to lack of proper equipment. Important components – Grounded hammer drill & a ground-fault interrupter. Double insulated hammer drill is not your friend here. You want it to shut down immediately if it hits a metal water line or rebar. The expense of just these two pieces pieces of equipment is much higher than a professional spot treatment for termites. Haven’t even touched on the cost of tank, pump, line, injector gun, rod, & tip.

    There are many more permutations of where and how they can get into your house – cracked slabs, soil too high, etc. This just basic termite info 101.

    If you lived near me I would check it out for free and advise the minimum treatment needed. Houston is a bit far for me. Sorry.

    7
  8. ^^^ “…He refuses to just take โ€œPill Pocketsโ€. …”

    Try fig newtons. Lay one flat, cut it down the middle. Then open each side a little and insert a pill or even two. Press closed.
    Betcha it works- it does around here.
    They’re way cheap at dollar general

    2
  9. @ billyhall2006 โ˜‘ MAY 24, 2021 AT 5:43 PM

    I will give that a try. Thanks for the idea. Open to any ideas anyone else has too.

    I may end up with a super savvy dog after this. A “nobody’s fool” guy. Which is not such a bad thing. I admire a highly trained dog that takes no treats from strangers.

    He’s at the point that he knows I’m trying to get pills into him no matter what I try. Maybe variety will help.

    3

Comments are closed.